Goodnight, Sweet Dreams
by Inclinant
Summary: They have come so far, but some things never change...


**Goodnight, Sweet Dreams**

* * *

Yao shivered as the thunder seemed to rock the entire house. Lightning lit up the dark shadows about him every now and then as the cold rain lashed against the tiled roof. He hoped none of the tiles would blow off tonight - he would have to spend quite some time fixing it the next day then and he had a meeting with some court officials...

The thunderstorm made the already cool night even colder. Drawing the edges of his zhaoshan about him, Yao continued down the corridor to the smaller room that was beside his and entered quietly. He didn't want to wake Kiku. It was late into the night and he just wanted to check on the small child - the previous time there was a storm this bad, Kiku had rushed to his room crying and only calmed down after Yao had hugged him tightly and sang him to sleep.

He slipped into the room, quietly closing the door after him. Yao crossed the small room in a few broad steps and was by the other's bed. He knelt down and gently pulled down the thick blankets a little, only to gasp upon seeing Kiku's teary eyes staring back at him.

"Yao-gege!" Kiku cried out and immediately threw his small arms around Yao's neck. Though startled and surprised, Yao instinctively moved to embrace the young child tightly. Kiku was shivering and his tears flowed freely now. "Gege...! I...I...I had a scary dream... A big...black monster...was going to eat me! ...And then I woke up and ...it was dark and...and cold...and scary and..."

"Shh..." Yao said softly, lightly threading his fingers through the other's smooth hair. He held Kiku tightly to himself, patting the other's back as he sniffed. "Yao-_gege _is here now. Everything is alright."

He pulled Kiku away from him and smiled warmly at the child, before gently kissing his tears away. "No one will eat you, Kiku. You're safe. Yao-_gege_ will protect you."

Kiku nodded, mouth falling into a sullen pout as his little fists wiped away the last of the tears from his red, puffy eyes. Yao gave him a small peck on the forehead. "There now, who do you think your gege is? Your gege is the great China! No one can hurt you, I promise."

Kiku brightened and nodded. Laughing now, Yao quickly placed the child back beneath the blankets, before joining him on the bed. He gave Kiku a little peck on the nose and smiled at how quickly Kiku fell asleep, tiny fists still clinging onto the edge of Yao's robe.

Yao laid his head down beside Kiku's small one and whispered softly, "Goodnight, sweet dreams."

* * *

Yao sighed as he stepped through the door, wincing a little as he glanced at his watch. It was already 2am. He had not meant for the Party meeting to run so late, it was just that that idiotic official was obviously wrong and he just had to smack some sense into him and eventually, the matter went all the way up to the Politburo's notice and it was just a horrific mess.

Yao dropped his briefcase by the side, loosened his tie and then run his hand tiredly through his messy hair. The lights were still on in the kitchen and he wandered into the small kitchen only to find a flask placed on the table, along with a short note. Smiling, he quickly poured himself a cup of warm soup and read Kiku's note, wondering how late the other must have stayed up till.

He felt bad that he had not managed to see the other much despite Kiku coming over to spend his break in Beijing. There was just too much work to do, what with finalising the new Five Year Plan and renewing of the Party leadership. Yao had had to run, literally, from one end of the country to the other.

Weariness set in and Yao quickly cleared the counter, before proceeding for a quick shower. As silently as he could, he stepped into their bedroom, spying Kiku's sleeping figure curled up on the right side of the double bed. Quietly, he eased himself onto the bed, before his eyes found the other's expression, lit up by the moonlight.

It was one of pain, fear and shock.

Yao froze on the spot. Kiku was definitely asleep, but he could see the other...trembling? His heart sank. It wasn't a nightmare, was it? Careful not to wake Kiku up, he gently lay a protective arm over him, before kissing Kiku gently on his forehead.

"Shh..."Yao said gently, his fingers absentmindedly starting to thread through Kiku's soft hair even as he tried to calm the other down with gentle words and warm embraces. "I'm here now. Everything is alright.

"It's just a bad dream, Kiku. You're safe. I'll protect you," Yao whispered, feeling Kiku curling up a little into his hold. He couldn't help but smile a little at Kiku's actions.

"There now, who do you think your lover is? I am China...and no one can hurt you again, I promise," Yao murmured, a tinge of sadness in his voice and in the soft sigh that followed after. Kiku though, seemed to have calmed down and a small smile was now on his face. Holding on tightly to his now calm and very clingy lover now, Yao let his head rest on the tip of the other's, taking comfort in the other's scent and warmth. A soft smile on his lips, he let his eyelids flutter shut slowly.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams."

* * *

A/N: Was digging through my files and found this document sitting here. From the context of the fic, I suppose it was written sometime last year before the change in leadership in China. Anyhow, it wasn't doing any good gathering digital dust in my writing folders so I decided to upload it, especially since I haven't been doing much of that lately.

Even though it's just a small ficlet, I hope you like it. Thank you for reading.


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